Category: Digital

Single frame… Crich Stand

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Crich StandCrich Stand
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 24mm, 1/220s, f11, ISO 400

High above the Derbyshire village of Crich and 1,000 feet above sea level, is Crich Stand, a memorial to the soldiers of the Sherwood Foresters Regiment who died in World War I, World War II and in conflicts from 1945 to 1970. It also commemorates those who died serving the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters Regiment from 1970 to 2007 and the Mercian Regiment since 2007.

A peaceful spot to remember my wife’s father who served in the Sherwood Foresters during World War II…

Single frame… North Lane

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North Lane, July 2018North Lane, July 2018
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 59mm, 1/80s, f11, ISO 2500

A view south along North Lane near Belper in Derbyshire, part of an ancient route known as ‘The Portway’ and believed to be of Roman construction… Also a wonderfully cool place to be on a hot summer evening!

Single frame… White cliffs from Birling Gap, East Sussex

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White cliffs from Birling Gap, East SussexWhite cliffs from Birling Gap, East Sussex
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 25mm, 1/240s, f11, ISO 200

A quick trip to see friends at the weekend gave me the opportunity to spend a little time at one of my favourite places… the coast!

The tiny specks on top of the cliffs are walkers on the South Downs Way and given the rate of erosion on this stretch of coastline they’re a bit too near the edge for my liking!

Single frame… Leawood Pumphouse

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Leawood Pumphouse, January 2018Leawood Pumphouse, January 2018
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 24mm, 1/105s, f8, ISO 400

Leawood Pumphouse was built in 1849 to supply water to the Cromford Canal in Derbyshire. A Watt-type beam engine draws water from the River Derwent through a 150 yard tunnel to a reservoir in the basement and then up 30 feet and into the canal.

The pump’s piston has a diameter of 50 inches, a stroke of 10 feet and works at seven strokes per minute and is capable of moving 39,000 tons of water in 24 hours! The immense size of the pump is due to the fact that there were restrictions on removing water from the river, doing so was only allowed between 8pm on Saturdays and 8pm on Sundays.

The pump house closed along with the canal in 1944 but it was restored in 1979 and is regularly steamed.

Single frame… First snowfall

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First snow, December 2017First snowfall, December 2017
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 36mm, 1/210s, f8, ISO 200

A brief and very cold trip out today (with my Nikon FM, shooting film for Emulsive’s FP4 Party) also gave me chance to capture the first snowfall of winter hereabouts (albeit just a light dusting…)

The forecast is for more snow over the weekend but I’m not taking bets on a white Christmas just yet…

Single frame… Wakehurst Place

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Woodland, Wakehurst Place, West SussexWoodland, Wakehurst Place, West Sussex
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 49mm, 1/220s, f5.6, ISO 400

Wakehurst Place in West Sussex is effectively part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and consists of the mansion itself, walled and water gardens, woodland and wetland conservation areas and Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank.

The gardens were originally created by Gerald Loder (later Lord Wakehurst) who purchased the estate in 1903. Wakehurst Place was left to the nation in 1963 and the Royal Botanic Gardens took up a lease from the National Trust in 1965.

A gentle amble around the gardens in the autumn sunshine yesterday was a thoroughly enjoyable experience and I’m planning on making a return visit in the spring.

A few frames from… Locomotion – The National Railway Museum at Shildon

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On the Fujifilm X-T1…

Some more shots from our wedding anniversary trip to North Yorkshire and County Durham, this time from a couple of hours spent exploring Locomotion – The National Railway Museum at Shildon

I take a lot of images of railways, most are just straightforward record shots, nothing more, but a few little details caught my eye on this particular day…

N.E.R. Snow Plough No.12N.E.R. Snow Plough No.12
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 21mm – 0.8s, f8, ISO 400

The lettering on this restored North Eastern Railway (NER) Snow Plough (built in 1891) is impressive, especially given that such vehicles were/are rarely in the public eye and mainly only seen by railwaymen clearing snow from the tracks. Percy Main is a small village (now part of North Shields, Tyne and Wear) that grew up around the Duke of Northumberland’s railway station on the Newcastle & North Shields Railway that opened in 1839.

L&NWR Precedent class 2-4-0 No.790 'HARDWICKE'L&NWR Improved Precedent class 2-4-0 No.790 ‘HARDWICKE’
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 29mm – 1/13s, f8, ISO 400

This nameplate and fine crest adorn the London & North Western Railway (L&NWR) ‘Improved Precedent’ class 2-4-0 steam locomotive No.790 (built in 1892 at Crewe). Originally designed to haul express passenger services HARDWICKE took 2 hours and 6 minutes to cover the 141 miles between Crewe and Carlisle on 22 August 1895 setting a new speed record during the Race to the North. A close inspection of the nameplate reveals a build date of 1873, this is because No.790 was officially a ‘renewal’ (i.e. replacement of an earlier locomotive) that kept the name and number of its predecessor.

'DELTIC'‘DELTIC’
Fujifilm X-T1, Fujinon XF 18-135mm f3.5~5.6 R LM OIS WR at 27mm – 1/3s, f11, ISO 400

These painted aluminium beadings were designed to give an impression of speed (and visually break up the high bodysides) of the English Electric ‘Diesel Prototype 1’ (DP1) locomotive. A designation it never carried, the loco is commonly known as DELTIC as it employed two Napier Deltic engines giving a combined power output of 3,300hp. Following a serious engine failure DELTIC was withdrawn from service in 1961 and donated to the Science Museum in 1963, moving to the National Railway Museum in York in 1993.